There are three excellent control options available for both old-school players and precision shooters. They work most of the time, although realism takes a back seat with the excessive checking and occasionally dumbfounded artificial intelligence.

The best decision the development team made was scrapping last year’s (too?) complicated control scheme for a streamlined series of options, including one that apes EA’s superb right stick/hockey stick mechanic.

The controls have been fixed, it's fun, and there are some nice touches to the presentation. But the AI is very suspect and the emphasis on fun hurts the authenticity, which was once 2K's biggest selling point.

The AI is extremely questionable, the graphics are good but not worth writing home about, the player control – while certainly easier – seems too stripped down, and there just aren’t enough sim elements to keep the hardcore hockey fan interested. On the other hand, the sound and accessibility drags us into the experience, there are plenty of simulated aspects that override any thoughts of classifying NHL 2K9 as an arcade-style sports game.

What we have with NHL 2k9 is a top shelf hockey game that still needs some tweaking to perfect the on-ice experience. That said, the impact on the authenticity of the game of having such unparalleled realism in the realm of puck physics cannot be overstated.

With a new team as developers came a fresh start for the series, which in the case of NHL 2K9 is both a good and a negative decision. The gameplay has been greatly simplified, but unfortunately the rest of the experience feels somewhat dumbed down as well. The AI can be somewhat shaky to say the least and the goalies are way to easy to outsmart even at the higher difficulties. A foundation may have been laid with NHL 2K9, but the potential isn't realised in this years game.

With all that said, it's with heavy heart that we point anyone looking for a fun hockey game to NHL 09. We loathe to do this in light of NHL 2K9's impressive online features (tournaments and six-on-six with 11 other players), but the rest of the package just doesn't live up to expectations.

Playing a mess like NHL 2K9, it’s hard to think that just a few years ago this was the hockey game of choice for serious puckheads. Now it would take several pucks to the head to even make me consider paying money for this experience.